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What is the Walsingham Shrine? | Grace Episcopal Shrine History

In a village called Little Walsingham there was a young widow, living with her only son, named Richeldis de Faverches was known for her love of God, her devotion to Mary and her good works in care and generosity. In 1061 she was given a vision on three separate occasions in which she was taken by Mary and shown the house in Nazareth where Gabriel had announced the news of the birth of Jesus. In her visions Mary asked Richeldis to build an exact replica of that house in Walsingham. This eventually earned Walsingham the name of England's Nazareth. It is said that the materials that she was given were built into the replica of the Holy House while she kept a prayer vigil.

There is no certainty that this story holds all of the details of historical fact, but the widow's only son Geoffrey de Faverches left instructions for a Priory in Walsingham which was given to the care of Augustinian Canons between 1146 and 1174. The shrine grew in wealth and popularity as many made the pilgrimage to the Priory to see the simple wooden structure that Richeldis had been asked to build. Among those who came to see it were, King Henry III, Edward II, Edward III, Henry IV, Henry VII, and finally Henry VIII who commanded its destruction in 1538.

In the 20th century the pilgrimage to Walsingham again became a regular event in Christian life in the area and beyond. In 1897 there was a Roman Catholic pilgrimage to the restored 14th century Chapel which is now at the center of the Roman Catholic National Shrine. Anglican interest in the pre-Reformation pilgrimage was brought about in the early 1900s by Fr Alfred Hope Patten and it was he who had the idea to base the new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham on an image which was on the seal of the medieval Priory.

In 1922 the statue was set up in the Parish Church of St. Mary. From the first night that the statue was in place people gathered around it to pray, asking that Mary join her powerful prayer with theirs. This work of intercession continues even today. In 1931 a new Holy House was built in a small church. The statue was moved there and in 1938 that small church was enlarged to form the Anglican Shrine as it is today. Eventually St Joseph's House was opened for pilgrims with special needs and Richeldis House opened in 1991 to accommodate even more visitors. In 2001 an entire year of outreach took place when the statue of Our Lady visited five Cathedrals in Britain for a series of Regional Festivals.